Teens who survive self-poisoning continue to be at risk of suicide for years

Study finds half of suicides among those who deliberately poisoned themselves occurred more than three years after initial episode

Teenagers who are hospitalized after intentionally poisoning themselves are at a significantly increased risk of dying by suicide within 10 years of the first attempt, according to a study led by The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES). The research was published in The Lancet Psychiatryon April 25, 2015 and presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in San Diego.

The team conducted a population-wide study in Ontario, Canada, todetermine the risk of suicide in teenagers treated earlier for self-poisoning. The researchers also examined the timing and risk factors associated with suicide. This study is the largest-ever study in paediatric medicine on suicide risk and followed 20,471 teens treated for self-poisoning and 1,023,751 without such history for up to 12 years or until they died.

The study received the 2015 American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Emergency Medicine’s Best Abstract Award at the PAS meeting this weekend.